Welcome to our online
archive of Harper's Weekly newspapers. We have put our extensive
collection of these original newspapers online for your study and
research. These papers are full of unique content you will not see
anywhere else.

(Scroll Down to See Entire Page, or Newspaper Thumbnails below will take you to the page of interest)

Entered
according to Act of Congress, in the Year 1863, by Harper & Brothers, the
Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York.

HOW STEAMBOATS RUN REBEL BATTERIES.

WE
reproduce on this page a picture of the tug "RUMSEY," Captain Joseph Biggs, as
she appeared
when prepared to run the gauntlet of the rebel batteries at Vicksburg on 26th
April. On the Vicksburg side she was protected by a barge filled with hay
solidly piled to a height which completely screened the steamboat. On the other
side another barge, containing a loose deck-load of cotton-bales, protected the
captain and his crew from rebel
sharp-shooters. Cotton bales were likewise piled around the pilot-house for the
protection of the pilot. Thus accoutred,
the gallant little craft boldly
ran past the rebel batteries without suffering any damage or losing a man.
Captain Biggs and his vessel
are now with
Farragut between Vicksburg and Port Hudson.

One of them shows us
THE BOMBARDMENT
AND DESTRUCTION
OF THE
REBEL BATTERIES AT GRAND GULF by
Admiral Farragut.
The place was being strongly fortified, and would have become as formidable as
Port Hudson or Vicksburg had the rebels been suffered to complete their
works. It is now in our hands.

THE CAPTURE OF
FORT GIBSON

On Saturday we reached Port Gibson, and took formal
possession of the town. Just as we entered the
village we
discovered the suspension bridge which crosses the Bayou
Pierre on fire. This compelled us to remain a few hours,
until a floating bridge could be constructed. The enemy
appeared on the opposite side of the
bayou, above and below the town, and shots were
exchanged, but with no damage
to our army.

Port Gibson is a town
of two thousand inhabitants,
well
built and enterprising. A railroad connects the Port with
Grand Gulf.

In the afternoon the bridge was repaired, and we crossed
over.

Three miles beyond Port Gibson, on the Raymond road,
we came across two large piles of bacon belonging to the
rebel army, and containing at least
50,000 pounds. Of
course this was incontinently appropriated. Five miles
beyond we came to the upper bridge across Bayou Pierre,
a substantial iron suspension bridge, which the enemy, in
his retreat had attempted to burn. The negroes had put
out the fire before the bridge was entirely destroyed.

The other pictures show us
GENERAL GRANT
WRITING HIS DISPATCHES TO WASHINGTON ON THE
BATTLEFIELD
BY THE
LIGHT OF A BIVOUAC FIRE, and
GOVERNOR
YATES SCOURING THE
FIELD
AFTER
THE BATTLE IN
SEARCH OF
THE WOUNDED. Mr. Davis says that the Governor's industry and zeal in this
praiseworthy enterprise elicited universal encomium.

THE BERWICK'S BAY EXPEDITION.

WE
illustrate on page 310 two scenes in the recent naval campaign in Berwick's
Bay, Louisiana,

via.,
THE
DESTRUCTION OF THE
"QUEEN
OF
THE WEST," and
THE.
CAPTURE
OF
BUTTE
LA ROSE by
our flotilla. The former operation is thus described in the official report of
the commanding officer of the flotilla
:

EXTRACT OF OFFICIAL
REPORT OF LIEUTENANT-COMMANDER COOKE TO COMMODORE MORRIS.

"GUN-BOAT
'
ESTRELLA'
GRAND LAKE,

"April
15, 1863.

"During the afternoon the
smoke of the enemy's steamers was seen in the distance, apparently in Lake
Chicot. At dark they were not yet in but we expected them, and made preparations
accordingly. After two o'clock
A.M. of the 11th inst. we
could occasionally distinguish their lights in the distance, and at daylight saw
a large black steamer and white riverboat approaching us. We were all under way immediately, and opened the
engagement with our bow-guns—30-pounder Parrots—at
long range, our three vessels forming a crescent—the
Estrella on the left, the
Arizona,
Captain Upton, on the right,
and the
Calhoun, Captain Jordan, in
the centre—all approaching and gradually
surrounding the enemy.

"The large black steamer pointed
toward the
Arizona, as though she were
going to ram her; but our firing was so rapid and accurate that she did not
advance. Captain Jordan, of the
Calhoun, pointed his vessel
to run down the black stranger; but she was seen to be on fire from our shells,
and was soon wrapped in flames fore and aft. At this juncture her consort turned
and fled. Having superior
speed and lighter draft we could not follow her, and she escaped. We now lowered
all our boats to pick up the crew of the burning steamer,

who were clinging to
cotton-bales all around her. From them we learned she was the
Queen of
the
West,
commanded by Captain Fuller, of Teche notoriety.
We picked up ninety of her crew, besides Captain Fuller, and understand twenty
or thirty were lost. The burning wreck drifted two or three miles down the lake,
where she grounded, and the
flames soon reached her magazine, which blew up,
scattering the fragments of this famous vessel in every direction.

" Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

"A. P. COOKE,
Lieutenant-Commander

"Commanding Naval Forces Berwick's Bay.

"Commodore HENRY W. MORRIS,

" Steam Sloop
Pensacola, New Orleans."

Of the capture of Butte La Rose a friend of the author of the sketch which we
reproduce writes as follows :

"UNITED STATES STEAMER 'ESTRELLA,'
"April 28, 1863.

"I herewith forward to
you a sketch of Fort Butte La
Rose and vicinity, as it appeared during the action of the 22d inst. After a few
days of very intricate navigation of the innumerable bayous
in this region, the Berwick's Bay fleet, under command of Lieutenant-Commander
A. P. Cooke, approached the fort under a full head of steam at ten o'clock A.M.
The fort was silenced in about twelve minutes. The rebel gun-boat Mary T. was crippled, and
only escaped by the assistance of one of the rebel transports. The steamer
Clifton was slightly injured in her machinery. Our loss was two killed and three
wounded. We captured the fort, two heavy guns, sixty prisoners with all their
small arms, and a large quantity of ammunition."

THE
TUG
"RUMSEY"
ACCOUTRED FOR RUNNING
THE
REBEL BATTERIES AT
VICKSBURG.

Site Copyright 2003-2013 Son of the
South. For Questions or comments about this collection,
contact paul@sonofthesouth.net